.
BE HEALTHY
News and Opinions in Medicine, Nutrition and Exercise
_________________________________________________________
ANN ARBOR, Michigan /
MichiganLive.com / Living / August 6, 2009
By Channon Mondoux | Special to BE Healthy
Free radicals, oxidative stress, antioxidants ... these key words that sound as if they could be used by political activists are actually significant in the war against aging.
BE Healthy magazine offers information about the science behind raw food, and some recipes to make the most of it.
"If you ignore your health it will go away," says Shelley Fitzgerald, of
Everything Fitz. Fitzgerald is a former biology teacher, a nurse and a mother who is currently a wellness coach and certified health educator. "Whole food nutrition, plant-based eating is the right way to go for quality of life and preventing disease."
"As far as aging goes, this happens because we create free radicals everyday, from normal metabolism, just by breathing and producing energy. This causes cells to wear down, and when they die off, we age. To slow that aging process, we need to protect ourselves with antioxidants, which primarily come from fruits and vegetables that neutralize the free radicals and prevent rusting out."
__________________________________________________________________________________
Definitions
• Free radical: An atom or group of atoms with at least one unpaired electron; in the body it is usually an oxygen molecule that has lost an electron and will stabilize itself by stealing an electron from a nearby molecule and damage cells
• Antioxidant: A molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules; they are found in abundance in colorful fruits and vegetables.
• Oxidative stress: Free-radical damage caused by normal metabolism, rusting out of the body because you're not feeding the body enough antioxidants. Oxidative stress can lead to disease and speeds aging.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Fitzgerald adds: "Oxidation involves the creation of unstable molecules (missing an electron) in the body through burning fuel, and these unstable molecules (free radicals) want to grab an electron from the next molecule it can, which can cause damage, aging and disease. Antioxidants provide those electrons and act as a shield to protect your healthy cells."
In addition to needing antioxidants to protect us from cellular damage, our bodies need enzymes to break down the food we take in and to get access to its components for all the other enzymatic activities of the body. According to Fitzgerald, we have a limited supply of enzymes, and if we don't make deposits into that enzyme bank, we'll deplete it and age faster.
Although the enzymes in most foods degrade with cooking, some foods actually improve their availability, and these include tomatoes and broccoli. In order to reduce the destruction of enzymes however, steaming to cook will be easier on all foods.
What can we do?
Eat a Rainbow diet: When you're preparing a meal, remember that every color represents different antioxidants, so you want a colorful plate.
Raw foods: Raw foods generally have more abundant antioxidants, enzymes, vitamins and phytochemicals.Â
Choose vine-ripened: Local food is important. Real vine-ripened food is grown until it is ready to be picked and eaten, not shipped hundreds of miles after it is picked. Fresh vegetables have the highest levels of all the good things.
As close to nature as possible: Avoid processed food. The farther you remove it from its original form, the less nutrition it has.
To help you get on the path of eating well, here are some raw food recipes to use in your arsenal in the fight to age gracefully.
Recipes
Watermelon salsa with jicama chips
This raw food salsa is a nice change from tomato salsas. Sweet yet savory, you'll enjoy the bright colors. Use a small, individual-sized watermelon, cut it horizontally with a decorative edge, scoop out the flesh and it becomes your serving bowl. Jicama is a root vegetable that originates from the Southern Hemisphere. Its flavor is reminiscent of a potato but sweeter and brighter.
1 personal watermelon or 4 cups of flesh of watermelon, seeded and diced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
1 fresh lime, juiced
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
1/8 teaspoon black pepper, ground
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 small jicama, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch chips
In large bowl, mix melon, chilies, onion, ginger. Refrigerate, add lime juice, cilantro and seasoning, and toss lightly. Serve with jicama slices.
Garlic mustard pesto
This pesto is made with a wild invasive weed, but don't fear, it's edible. Garlic mustard was brought to America by European settlers. Choose small, delicate leaves on young plants, and don't pick by the roadside; find a nice patch in an area you are familiar with to avoid chemical spray. Or substitute basil, parsley or other leafy greens.
2 cups garlic mustard leaves, packed
2 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup Manchego cheese (I like Reny Picot from Benton Harbor), grated
1 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste
Place garlic cloves and walnuts in food processor. Puree while adding oil. Open, stir, add garlic mustard leaves. Puree 5 seconds. Open, scrape sides, and add cheese. Puree 5 seconds. Open, scrape, then taste. Add salt if desired. Add vinegar and water. Pulse 2 or 3 times until well combined. Serve with vegetable crudites.
Spicy tomato gazpacho in edible cups
When Willy Wonka sang about "eating the dishes" I'm sure he never imagined one so healthy.
1 large fresh tomato, diced
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 cup fresh corn kernels (1 ear), raw or lightly steamed
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped small
1 small cucumber, diced
1/4 cup green onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup parsley, minced, plus 2 tablespoons for garnish
juice of 1 lime
1 20-ounce can of vegetable juice cocktail
1/4 cup salsa
1 teaspoon hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste
8 medium-sized colorful sweet peppers (orange, yellow, green or red) to be used as bowls.
1/2 cup nonfat, organic yogurt with live cultures
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon lime juice
Cut off top 1/4 off the 8 sweet peppers, and remove the seeds. Choose peppers with somewhat flat bottoms so they stand up as bowls. Chop the tops for the soup.
Combine tomatoes, garbanzo beans, corn, chopped peppers, cucumber, green onions, garlic and parsley in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lime juice. Chill for one hour.
Combine vegetable juice, hot sauce and salsa in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Cover mixture and chill for an hour.
Stir salsa mixture into tomato mixture. Place in a container and store in the refrigerator. Combine yogurt, salt and lime juice.
Fill halved peppers with soup, garnish with a spoon of yogurt and a sprinkle of parsley. Serve cold. [
rc]
TOP: Watermelon salsa with jicama chips. Photo by John A. Lacko for BE Healthy
BELOW: Spicy tomato gazpacho in edible cups Photo by John A. Lacko for BE Healthy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Channon Mondoux is a personal chef, food historian, author and culinary teacher who lives in Portage with her husband and three sons. Her work reflects years of exploring the relationship between food, health and happiness. Learn more about her at www.rencuisine.com.
© 2009 Michigan Live LLC.
BE HEALTHY
News and Opinions in Medicine, Nutrition and Exercise
_________________________________________________________
ANN ARBOR, Michigan / MichiganLive.com / Living / August 6, 2009
By Channon Mondoux | Special to BE Healthy
Free radicals, oxidative stress, antioxidants ... these key words that sound as if they could be used by political activists are actually significant in the war against aging.
BE Healthy magazine offers information about the science behind raw food, and some recipes to make the most of it.
"If you ignore your health it will go away," says Shelley Fitzgerald, of Everything Fitz. Fitzgerald is a former biology teacher, a nurse and a mother who is currently a wellness coach and certified health educator. "Whole food nutrition, plant-based eating is the right way to go for quality of life and preventing disease."
"As far as aging goes, this happens because we create free radicals everyday, from normal metabolism, just by breathing and producing energy. This causes cells to wear down, and when they die off, we age. To slow that aging process, we need to protect ourselves with antioxidants, which primarily come from fruits and vegetables that neutralize the free radicals and prevent rusting out."
__________________________________________________________________________________
Definitions
• Free radical: An atom or group of atoms with at least one unpaired electron; in the body it is usually an oxygen molecule that has lost an electron and will stabilize itself by stealing an electron from a nearby molecule and damage cells
• Antioxidant: A molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules; they are found in abundance in colorful fruits and vegetables.
• Oxidative stress: Free-radical damage caused by normal metabolism, rusting out of the body because you're not feeding the body enough antioxidants. Oxidative stress can lead to disease and speeds aging.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Fitzgerald adds: "Oxidation involves the creation of unstable molecules (missing an electron) in the body through burning fuel, and these unstable molecules (free radicals) want to grab an electron from the next molecule it can, which can cause damage, aging and disease. Antioxidants provide those electrons and act as a shield to protect your healthy cells."
In addition to needing antioxidants to protect us from cellular damage, our bodies need enzymes to break down the food we take in and to get access to its components for all the other enzymatic activities of the body. According to Fitzgerald, we have a limited supply of enzymes, and if we don't make deposits into that enzyme bank, we'll deplete it and age faster.
Although the enzymes in most foods degrade with cooking, some foods actually improve their availability, and these include tomatoes and broccoli. In order to reduce the destruction of enzymes however, steaming to cook will be easier on all foods.
What can we do?
Eat a Rainbow diet: When you're preparing a meal, remember that every color represents different antioxidants, so you want a colorful plate.
Raw foods: Raw foods generally have more abundant antioxidants, enzymes, vitamins and phytochemicals.Â
Choose vine-ripened: Local food is important. Real vine-ripened food is grown until it is ready to be picked and eaten, not shipped hundreds of miles after it is picked. Fresh vegetables have the highest levels of all the good things.
As close to nature as possible: Avoid processed food. The farther you remove it from its original form, the less nutrition it has.
To help you get on the path of eating well, here are some raw food recipes to use in your arsenal in the fight to age gracefully.
Recipes
Watermelon salsa with jicama chips
This raw food salsa is a nice change from tomato salsas. Sweet yet savory, you'll enjoy the bright colors. Use a small, individual-sized watermelon, cut it horizontally with a decorative edge, scoop out the flesh and it becomes your serving bowl. Jicama is a root vegetable that originates from the Southern Hemisphere. Its flavor is reminiscent of a potato but sweeter and brighter.
1 personal watermelon or 4 cups of flesh of watermelon, seeded and diced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
1 fresh lime, juiced
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
1/8 teaspoon black pepper, ground
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 small jicama, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch chips
In large bowl, mix melon, chilies, onion, ginger. Refrigerate, add lime juice, cilantro and seasoning, and toss lightly. Serve with jicama slices.
Garlic mustard pesto
This pesto is made with a wild invasive weed, but don't fear, it's edible. Garlic mustard was brought to America by European settlers. Choose small, delicate leaves on young plants, and don't pick by the roadside; find a nice patch in an area you are familiar with to avoid chemical spray. Or substitute basil, parsley or other leafy greens.
2 cups garlic mustard leaves, packed
2 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup Manchego cheese (I like Reny Picot from Benton Harbor), grated
1 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste
Place garlic cloves and walnuts in food processor. Puree while adding oil. Open, stir, add garlic mustard leaves. Puree 5 seconds. Open, scrape sides, and add cheese. Puree 5 seconds. Open, scrape, then taste. Add salt if desired. Add vinegar and water. Pulse 2 or 3 times until well combined. Serve with vegetable crudites.
Spicy tomato gazpacho in edible cups
When Willy Wonka sang about "eating the dishes" I'm sure he never imagined one so healthy.
1 large fresh tomato, diced
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 cup fresh corn kernels (1 ear), raw or lightly steamed
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped small
1 small cucumber, diced
1/4 cup green onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup parsley, minced, plus 2 tablespoons for garnish
juice of 1 lime
1 20-ounce can of vegetable juice cocktail
1/4 cup salsa
1 teaspoon hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste
8 medium-sized colorful sweet peppers (orange, yellow, green or red) to be used as bowls.
1/2 cup nonfat, organic yogurt with live cultures
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon lime juice
Cut off top 1/4 off the 8 sweet peppers, and remove the seeds. Choose peppers with somewhat flat bottoms so they stand up as bowls. Chop the tops for the soup.
Combine tomatoes, garbanzo beans, corn, chopped peppers, cucumber, green onions, garlic and parsley in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lime juice. Chill for one hour.
Combine vegetable juice, hot sauce and salsa in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Cover mixture and chill for an hour.
Stir salsa mixture into tomato mixture. Place in a container and store in the refrigerator. Combine yogurt, salt and lime juice.
Fill halved peppers with soup, garnish with a spoon of yogurt and a sprinkle of parsley. Serve cold. [rc]
TOP: Watermelon salsa with jicama chips. Photo by John A. Lacko for BE Healthy
BELOW: Spicy tomato gazpacho in edible cups Photo by John A. Lacko for BE Healthy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Channon Mondoux is a personal chef, food historian, author and culinary teacher who lives in Portage with her husband and three sons. Her work reflects years of exploring the relationship between food, health and happiness. Learn more about her at www.rencuisine.com.
© 2009 Michigan Live LLC.
